Thursday, January 30, 2014

Kill, Baby... Kill Band Feature

What started as a home studio project for Noah Holt and his band, has turned into what is now the best selling artist on Deep Eddy Records. Hailing from Jacksonville, Alabama, Kill, Baby... Kill is an instrumental, Apocalyptic Surf Punk group who gains influence from bands ranging from The Ventures and Dick Dale to Fugazi and Black Flag.

"Their guitarist Noah and I met on the Surf Guitar 101 forum. I checked out his band's music and I offered to distribute their CDs." Ted James, Deep Eddy Records label manager said.

"The label had decided to take us on within a month or so of having self-released our first album ["Sometimes They Come Back"]. That was in 2011." Noah Holt, singer for Kill, Baby... Kill, said. "It goes to say that Deep Eddy Records, while small, is a fantastic label to work with. They don’t ask any questions or really suggest anything. Their confidence is in us. And I am happy to say that we are one of the fastest selling bands released by the label since its inception in the early 1990s."

James' relationship with the band is something different than what most artists experience in their affiliation with the label. "We have a strong line of open communication. They do what they say they're going to do, and they really care about their fans and friends. They're definitely one of the hardest working bands I know. They had my respect from the beginning. They can achieve anything they want, and I believe they'll make their music in the music world"

The band name is a direct reference to an Italian Horror Film title of the same name by Mario Bava.

"I picked it because not only did I like the ring of it, but it also fit with the original idea of KBK, which was to be very much a horror themed project." said Holt

While the band is still very much "horror themed", it has evolved into more of an apocalyptic focus that stays true to its namesake.

The current line-up consists of Holt on guitar, Erek Smith on bass, Josh Jackson on drums, and Chris Eagle on keyboard. Holt met Jackson while they were in different bands; Holt was in Backseat Virgins and Jackson was in Typhoid Mary. They often found themselves on the same bills for local shows. Smith and Eagle played together in high school.

"We are just four guys that get along and play well together." said Holt

When label manager, James was asked what made the band stick out to him, he responded, "Their songwriting and musicianship, mostly, and their willingness to promote themselves really shows." "They promote the label any chance they get. They have also sold many label releases at their shows, and they are always introducing me to new bands."

One of their favorite accomplishments was getting to work with Joe Queer from the extremely influential punk band The Queers on their 2011 debut EP "Sometimes They Come Back"

 2014 is promising to be a big year for Kill, Baby... Kill. "We actually have a handful of releases planned" said Holt. "The most important thing we are doing in 2014 is releasing a series of 2-song digital singles through Deep Eddy Records. We thought this a good way to not only maintain focus and goals, but also to try out some different recording studios. Even more, it means more new material, more often, for those that might want it. We will play most of the major surf/instro festivals and probably tour the Southeast. It would be great to make it back Northeast or to the Midwest, but we will have to see if life will allow it this year."

Kill, Baby... Kill will play at Egan's on Thursday with Capsized. It is a free show.



Sunday, January 19, 2014

AFI Center Stage Atlanta, GA 1/18/14

When AFI comes to the southeast, it is always time for a road trip for me and my mother. AFI tickets were most definitely a Christmas present for me. I think that is the perfect gift ever.

This show happened to fall the day after I saw Against Me! in Birmingham, so hooray for a punk rock weekend! After a minor traffic delay and a pit stop at our favorite restaurant, The Flying Biscuit, Mom and I arrived at Center Stage. One of the things I was looking most forward to at this show was the fact that it was sold out and that it was the first time I had seen AFI since 2010 (which is too long, if you ask me). To make the night better, I was on the barricade. YES

The first band of the night was called Coming. The second band was called Youth Code. Both bands were, to put it bluntly, not good. I am terribly sorry, but when the entire crowd is looking at each other with the "what the hell is this" look on their face, and you hear the people in the back booing, something is just horribly wrong. Coming was a terrifying attempt at spoken-word punk music, while Youth Code, was a horrific attempt at screamo-dubstep. I give them props for following their dreams, but because we were all waiting ever so patiently for AFI, the bands sounded worse. That is basically it for the negativity.

When the lights went down, the crowd was insane and the "through our bleeding, we are one" and "AFI AFI AFI" chants began. The band ran on stage and Davey stood on the drum riser and did one of the prettiest pike jumps I have ever seen (I cheered for 9.5 years. There are not many people who can do pikes like that.) I love the energy of the band. They jump around and fly through the air like graceful fairies. It is beautiful. They played

The Leaving Song Pt. II
Girl's Not Grey
I Hope You Suffer
File 13 (WHAT!!! WE ARE HEARING SOMETHING FROM VERY PROUD OF YA?!?!?!? WHAT? CUE CROWD FREAKOUT)
Love Like Winter
Ever And A Day
17 Crimes
The Interview (OMG!!! CROWD FREAKOUT!!! DECEMBERUNDERGROUND)
Kill Caustic
The Leaving Song (Hunter and Adam left the stage.)
Heart Stops
Miss Murder
The Days Of The Phoenix
God Called In Sick Today

Encore:

Just Like Heaven (The Cure cover)
Dancing Through Sunday (Yay!)
Silver And Cold

This show definitely rivals my first AFI show, which I thought was the best until now. One thing I noticed was the absence of Crash Love songs, which pissed off the "uber fan" next to me who thought AFI was still promoting Crash Love. No, sweetheart, they are promoting Burials. Uber fan? No.

Check out AFI's new album Burials, available now!  















































Saturday, January 18, 2014

Against Me! Workplay Birmingham, AL 1/17/14

Against Me! is coming to Workplay on a Friday night. YES. The last time I saw them was at Warped Tour 2011, when White Crosses came out. (FYI, White Crosses is my favorite album) So much has changed since then. I will not go into the details because most of you reading this will already know (if not, read here.)

The first band of the night was The Shondes. They are from Brooklyn, New York. They have a very interesting way of infusing their Jewish heritage into their music. Certain songs had lyrics that pertained to it. They played

Sing For You
Dr. Manhattan
The Garden
On Your Side
Follow The Storm
The Promise
Give Me What You've Got

The Shondes are a good, feminine punk rock band at its finest.

After them were The Sidekicks. They were fairly decent. They were a little bit different than the other bands of the night. Their sound was little more hard rock than punk, but they definitely had some punk influence. Their singer looked a lot like my best friend too, and it freaked me out!

Against Me! was spot on. The best shows are always the ones where every person in the audience knows every word to every song and they are singing their hearts out with the band. That is exactly how this show was. I was in the front and I had to lay with my elbows on the stage the entire night because the crowd was so rambunctious. Beer was flying everywhere and crowd surfers were prominent. Their set consisted of

FUCKMYLIFE666
Pints Of Guinness Make Your Strong
New Wave (One of my favorites)
Walking Is Still Honest
True Trans Soul Rebel
Cliché Guevara
I Still Love You Julie
Transgender Dysphoria Blues
White People For Peace
I Was A Teenage Anarchist (YAY!)
Unconditional Love
Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists
Pretty Girls (The Mover)
Don't Lose Touch
Black Me Out
Miami
Thrash Unreal
The Ocean
Sink.Florida.Sink

Encore:

Bamboo Bones
Rapid Decompression
We Laugh At Danger (And Break All The Rules)

Against Me!'s new album Transgender Dysphoria Blues is out now!